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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph from Wide World 

 LITTLE MISS AMERICA WELCOMES BIRDS FROM FOREIGN LANDS 



At the third annual exhibition ol the Bird Fanciers Association, held at the Waldorf-Astoria 

 Hotel in New York City in November, 1937, pretty Miss Ursula Reimer was snapped at an aviary 

 while feeding Java sparrows (top) and other exotic species. An albino Java sparrow (left center) 

 is a prize in any collection (Color Plate IV). 



agree in slender form and in jaunty, erect crest. 

 The bulbul of the poets is found in this 

 family (the Pycnonotidae), a group of which 

 some kinds are good songsters, while others are 

 not so proficient. Bulbuls require soft food, 

 but with proper care are hardy in captivity. 



Myna 



Talking parrots are universally known, but 

 it is something of a surprise to most people to 

 stop to examine a heavy-bodied, shiny black 

 bird with curious yellow wattles on the sides 

 of the head and have it suddenly remark in a 

 sepulchral, croaking voice, "I'm hungry," or, 

 less politely, "So's your old man!" But this is 

 what may happen to visitors in the National 

 Zoological Park any day. 



The bird is the talking myna (Gracula religi- 

 osa) from the Malay region, a species of wide 

 range that has been separated into a number 

 of geographic races (Color Plate VIII). 



These mynas are naturally imitative and 

 learn words, phrases, and other bird calls, par- 

 ticularly loud, whistled sounds, with ease. I 

 remember especially the survivor of a pair 

 that often remarked to me (rather mournfully, 

 it seemed), "The other one died," and fol- 

 lowed this or any other imitation with cack- 

 ling laughter learned from those who were 



amused at its talk. This same bird, when we 

 first received it, jabbered phrases in some 

 strange tongue, perhaps in Malay, taken from 

 native handlers before it was shipped to us. 



In talking, mynas usually check their rest- 

 less jumping about to rest with body held stiffly, 

 bill pointing out, and the pupil of the eye con- 

 tracting and enlarging rapidly. Words are ut- 

 tered with open bill and considerable movement 

 of the throat. 



Mynas are quarrelsoine and aggressive, so 

 they have to be confined alone. They require 

 a good deal of cage room, and eat fruit and 

 other soft food. Though most amusing in an 

 aviary, they are not recommended for house- 

 hold pets, as they require considerable atten- 

 tion in keeping their cages clean. They rcadily 

 learn to imitate from one another. 



Red-billed Hill Tit 



The sprightly little "Japanese robin" ( Leio- 

 tlirix liitea ) is wrongly named, since it is found 

 from southern China to northern India and 

 Burma and does not occur wild in Japan. It is 

 better called the "red-billed hill tit" (Plate 

 VIIIj. It requires soft food, but is hardy and 

 easily handleci in cage or in aviary, and pays 

 for its care in its alert, active movements and 

 pleasant warbling songs. 



